US drones on a mission in Pak: Hunt the Haqqanis

US drones on a mission in Pak: Hunt the Haqqanis

Apparently frustrated over Pakistan military's inaction against the dreaded Haqqani network, the United States has unleashed a wave of drone attacks killing dozens of militants in North Waziristan, a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, this month.

Since September 2, there have been 13 strikes by unmanned spy planes in North Waziristan the highest number in a month since the US began using drones to hit targets in Pakistan in 2004, the Dawn newspaper reported.

The number of drone strikes this year has already crossed 70, the highest figure for a single year.

US gameplan in Pak's northwest

There were two attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday that killed 32 militants, including Commander Saifullah, a cousin of Sirajuddin, a son of Jalaluddin Haqqani.

The US is hoping to downgrade the operational capabilities of the Haqqani group, which it considers the most lethal militant outfit in Afghanistan.

Military sources were quoted by the Dawn as saying that an operation in North Waziristan had been delayed because the Pakistan Army is preoccupied with fighting militancy in other tribal areas and flood relief efforts.

This window was fully exploited by the Haqqani group to intensify its activities, defence analysts said.

Image: Militants belonging to the Haqqani network at an undisclosed location

Al Qaeda too is on the strike radar

Sources said Pakistan would make fresh moves to discuss peace with the Haqqanis, in the context of the overall reconciliation plan, during Afghan President Hamid Karzai's current visit to Pakistan.

Karzai arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday on a two-day visit.

The pattern of the drone attacks this month showed that the primary target was the Haqqani network, though its host commander Hafiz Gul Bahadar and foreign militants of Al Qaeda have also been targeted.

The drone strikes, this month, have predominantly been in Miranshah sub-division, where the Haqqani network's headquarters are based and where the group carries out its financial dealings, acquisition of weapons and strategic planning.

US pursuing the hammer and anvil approach

Five of the attacks occurred in Datta Khel, which is home to Gul Bahadar's Uthmanzai Wazir clan. Dandey Darpa Khel, the scene of several drone attacks, is where members of Jalaluddin Haqqani's family live.

Gul Bahadar, who leads the other major militant group in North Waziristan, provides the Haqqanis the tribal support they lack and gives them passage to the border.

The US, while targeting the Haqqanis, is pursuing the "hammer and anvil approach".

Alongside the spike in drone attacks, US Special Forces have launched an intense operation against the group in eastern Afghanistan, killing a number of its commanders.